by jboullion | Sep 9, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by Governor Jim Doyle:
Legislation will improve bus and rail service and roster regional cooperation in Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine
MILWAUKEE – Governor Jim Doyle today announced a framework of a proposal crafted with legislators from southeastern Wisconsin on a plan to improve bus and rail service in Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine through a Regional Transit Authority.
“Investing in safe, reliable modes of transportation allows people to travel and commute efficiently and it strengthens the economy,” Governor Doyle said. “I am pleased today to announce that leaders from Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine have joined me in support of a truly regional approach to improving and expanding transit in this area.”
Governor Doyle has supported Regional Transit Authorities in Wisconsin that serve a population base, rather than any specific municipal jurisdiction, and are independently governed. Under the Governor’s priorities, RTAs also should provide property tax relief and be focused solely on transit.
The proposal satisfies those conditions and will create an RTA in southeastern Wisconsin that would phase in independent governance. Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine would initially operate as sub-RTAs, with varying sources of previously approved funding.
Over time, the sub-RTAs would merge into a common board. Representation would be proportional to population. A primary goal of the RTA would be to better position the proposed Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail line for obtaining New Starts funding from the Federal Transit Administration.
by jboullion | Sep 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by John Nichols in The Capital Times:
Wisconsin officials have seemed for too long to be at war with this state’s rich industrial legacy.
It is as if they live in a fantasy world that imagines this Great Lakes state will somehow become the next Silicon Valley.
But when state officials make policies that aim in the direction of fantasy-island developments rather than taking necessary steps to retain existing industrial jobs and to attract news ones, they undermine Wisconsin’s future.
That is what Department of Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi and his aides appear to be doing with their scheming to redevelop the Hoan Bridge/794 corridor in a manner that would decimate roughly two-thirds of the port of Milwaukee.
The port, still one of the largest and most well-situated on the Great Lakes, provides crucial support to our manufacturing base – not only in Milwaukee but all of southeastern Wisconsin, which remains one of the nation’s great centers for small and medium-sized factories.
But the port could be seriously undermined as a support for Wisconsin’s manufacturing sector if Busalacchi and the Doyle administration get their way.
According to documents obtained through an open records request initiated by Milwaukee County Supervisor Patricia Jursik, Busalacchi’s DOT has commissioned – at a cost of $225,000 – a study by the HNTB planning group of strategies for the demolition of the Hoan Bridge and the development of a condo and entertainment complex.
The port will be critical as Wisconsin develops manufacturing capabilities to supply the wind industry.
by jboullion | Sep 4, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a blog post by Tom Content on JSonline:
Clean-energy policies such as the federal energy and climate bill and a state climate bill are needed to help open doors for clean-tech entrepreneurs and prod other companies to invest in cleaner energy technologies, Gov. Jim Doyle said Wednesday.
Speaking at an energy forum in Saginaw, Mich. led by the Obama administration, Doyle referred to the biomass power plant announced Tuesday by We Energies as a project that wouldn’t have happened without the state law that requires utilities to buy more green power.
“They’re doing this because they’ve got a renewable power standard that they have to meet in a couple of years and they are really trying to figure out how they are going to do it. So good public policy matters,” Doyle said.
Under Doyle, and with bipartisan support, the state enacted a law several years ago requiring that 10% of the state’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2015.
Doyle is now pushing for the state to expand that requirement – to 25% of the state’s energy supply by 2025 – as part of a global warming bill that his office and co-chairs of several legislative committees have been working on. The bill is based on the recommendations of the governor’s global warming task force last year.
That bill is likely to be introduced next month, said Pat Henderson, deputy secretary of the state Department of Natural Resources, in an interview.
During a telephone call with Wisconsin reporters, Doyle said he was optimistic the bill would pass either late this year or early next year. The state bill is still needed, he said, even if a federal bill that would enact a nationwide cap-and-trade system is passed.
by jboullion | Sep 3, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a post on Greener Milwaukee:
Participants in this two hour seminar will learn about: how photovoltaic (PV) systems create electricity from the sun; what components make up a PV system; how to determine what size system will meet your needs; where to locate a system on your home or property; what PV systems cost and the financial incentives that are available. This program includes handouts, demonstrations, and a question and answer period. We Energies and Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) have partnered to offer this seminar and it is only available to WE Energies Customers. Cost: $15/person or $5/We Energies’ Energy for Tomorrow customers.
Time: September 12, 2009 from 10am to 12pm
Location: Outpost Natural Foods – Bayview
Street: 2826 S. Kinnickinnic Ave
City/Town: Milwaukee
Register here.
by jboullion | Sep 1, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by We Energies:
ROTHSCHILD, Wis. – We Energies announced today the proposed construction of a $250 million biomass-fueled power plant at Domtar Corporation’s Rothschild, Wisconsin paper mill site. Wood, waste wood and sawdust will be used to produce 50 megawatts of electricity and will also support Domtar’s sustainable papermaking operations. The project would be funded by We Energies.
The partnership between We Energies and Domtar will result in a highly efficient use of resources and will add another technology to We Energies’ renewable energy portfolio.
That portfolio includes the state’s largest wind development — the 145 megawatt Blue Sky Green Field Wind Energy Center in Fond du Lac County and the proposed 162 megawatt Glacier Hills Wind Park in Columbia County. Together, these three projects will be capable of delivering nearly 360 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to supply approximately 120,000 homes. . . .
Under Wisconsin law, utilities statewide must use renewable energy to meet 10 percent of the electricity needs of retail customers by the year 2015.
The project is expected to create approximately 400 construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs in the surrounding community, including independent wood suppliers and haulers from northern and central Wisconsin who will secure waste wood for the project.
